1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to children's safety seats for vehicular use and more specifically to a disposable absorbent pad for covering same.
2. Antecedents of the Invention
The employment of restraints for children riding in vehicles has become mandatory throughout the United States. Among the types of restraints available were infant carrier/car seats, which have been designed for transporting infants from birth up to approximately one year of age. Infant carrier/car seats were required to be installed only in the rear seat of a vehicle and included a harness having shoulder straps which were engaged through the rear of the safety seat back and a chest clip for gathering and positing the shoulder straps. The harness additionally included lap straps and a center crotch buckle.
Further child restraints have been categorized as convertible car seats, which were employed in both rear facing and forward facing positions for children exceeding certain weights, but who were within the weight/height/age requirements for mandatory usage of child restraints.
A third category of child restraints were booster seats which elevated a child to a level for use of a conventional seat belt and shoulder restraint. Booster seats were available with a unitary seat and back as well as with a seat bottom only.
As used hereinafter, the term “safety seat” shall be interpreted as to include all of the foregoing child restraints.
Virtually all safety seats included cushions covering child contact surfaces, e.g. the back, bottom and inwardly facing contoured sides of the seat, so as to provide comfort and a harness having three or five point anchor contacts with the seat frame. Openings were formed in the seat cushions through which the harness webbing passed at each of the three or five contact points, as well as additional sets of openings for the seat back contact points to enable adjustment of the shoulder webbing portions of the harness.
Children were prone to soil the seat cushions either by spilling or dripping liquid or through diaper leakage. While some cushions included a liquid impervious outer layer, so that they may be wiped, such cushions were generally uncomfortable for children, since the cushion contact surface did not allow air or liquids to pass through. Further, since the spilled liquids were not absorbed in the cushion, they would tend to migrate beyond the cushion, wetting the child's clothing, as well as the safety seat frame and the vehicle upholstery.
Additionally, the removal of soiled cushions for washing proved to be a difficult and time consuming task. While the seat cover disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,359, facilitated removal and installation, a soiled seat cover was not readily disposable, due to cost considerations.
There was a need for a disposable child seat pad which is simple to install and easy to remove after having been soiled.